CHAMPAIGN — Staying at home for training camp will save the University of Illinois football team more than $50,000 in hotel expenses this summer.
In 2015, the athletic department spent $142,000 for lodging between Camp Rantoul and Champaign. That figure has been cut to $87.736.50, a savings of $54,399.50.
Wednesday, the team checked into its temporary home for camp — Champaign's Hawthorn Suites. It booked 75 rooms at a daily rate of $64.99 each. The plan calls for players to sleep two to a room for 18 nights and get back and forth from practice via shuttle or their own cars.